There are few places more creepy than an abandoned amusement park, and “the happiest place on earth” is no exception. DeviantArt artist eledoremassis02 has captured Orlando’s Disney World and transformed it into something from a bleak post-apocolyptic future. Gone are the cheerful songs and happy families wandering Main Street or riding the monorail, and in their place are weeds and tropical jungle.…

Look at just about any world map and what do you see? Political borders. We’ve grown up seeing our world divided by lines, some with physical walls on the ground, others no more real than the line on the map and an agreement between people. Obviously the world hasn’t always looked this way. Not only have borders changed drastically over time, but the land masses themselves have moved… ever… so… slowly.

Massimo Pietrobon wondered how our current borders would have looked on Pangea, the supercontinent which existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras – or approximately 300 million years ago.…

Cameras are lighter, smaller, and less expensive than ever. Amateurs are now able to afflord the same rigs the pros use daily. Along with the advances in camera technology, accessories have followed suit. There are tons of excellent add-ons that have turned a field shoot with 3 pelican boxes into a single-backpack comprehensive toolkit. Here are a few recommendations to supercharge your field shoots while keeping it agile.…

Each week, we visualize compelling data sets that give us more insight into what is happening in the world around us. Whether news items, surprising facts, or our own humorous observations, we seek to shed light on interesting topics.…

There’s nothing like a good book. But a good book with a great cover? That’s two works of art in one. The best book design tells its own story, whether through simple text, powerful photography, or a simple graphic element. Sometimes it’s subtle; sometimes it’s in your face. All that matters is that it enhances your experience from the moment you take it off the shelves or click it into your shopping cart. These 10 beautiful book covers span all genres, showing that inspiration can come in many forms. …

Water is the most precious resource in the world. (At Visual News HQ in California, we’re facing a serious drought, so we are more aware of this than ever.) Less than 3% of the world’s water is drinkable, and most of that is in icecaps, deep underground, or trapped in soil. …

Space travel has come a long way. From distances traveled to technology used, we are seeing our world—and many others—in detail we never could have imagined. But it all started with the first picture beamed from space. It’s been 69 years since U.S. scientists launched the sub-orbital V-2 rocket (flight #13) in 1946, which captured the first image from space. This bad boy right here: …

Artist Lee John Phillips is in the midst of an impressive undertaking. The resident of Narberth (Arberth), Wales is illustrating every single object in his late grandfather’s toolshed. That amounts to over 100,000 items—every nut, bolt, washer and old hammer. Phillips estimates the project will take about 5 years.…

Good content is great to have, but it doesn’t mean much if no one sees it. You’re putting in all the work; you want all the shares, media pickup, and unique visitors you can get. If you’re running a blog, are you sure it’s optimized for distribution? Even in this modern Web-publishing era, too many blogs are woefully behind the times: broken social counters, no CTAS, the list goes on. To make sure you’re publishing the right way, check out these tips to optimize your blog for content distribution. And if you want more info on getting more eyes on your stuff, download Column Five’s free e-book, The Ultimate Guide to Content Distribution.

Whether you use a recipe, or just throw it all together, cooking is a skill obtained over years of practiced effort. It’s not always easy going (…like that time you surprised guests with that risky new souffle) but with the right instructions it will almost always turn out delicious. One of the best tools for learning new cooking techniques or following recipes is a good graphic.…